Overview
All human beings are united by a preference not to experience the initiation of aggression upon them.
- A stance against aggressing is the least disagreeable foundation for human interactions that all can support.
3L has a specific definition of aggressing, which can be loosely summarized as subjecting someone to an action without consent. With this definition in mind, we can confidently assert that no one likes being aggressed against.
- A boxer may enjoy fighting, but a boxing match is consensual, so it falls outside 3L’s definition of aggressing.
So why is aggressing currently permitted in society? Maybe it’s because we’ve never thought about it, or we misguidedly believe two wrongs will make a right, or because some powerful people believe they benefit from dominating others… who knows.
- All we need is for a significant minority of us to make a choice to live and let live, and we will end this ancient cycle of aggressing.
Why does violence often create more violence?
A cycle whereby retaliatory violence (that is violence in response to initiating violence) almost always causes harm to people who were not the original aggressors. This creation of new victims gives way to new justifications for the next stage of violence. And so on.
In the context of government, when violence is institutionalized, violence is never truly overcome, it is only directed at certain people and used at certain times. This means violence is often excused when powerful people hold influence as or with political actors.